CATIA for Engineers enables Digital Prototyping including Analysis and Simulation for design and validation of function quality and performance at all stages ofthe design.

Mechanical engineering is complex as assemblies are designed to perform a specific task with a specific target performance. Digital prototyping, combined with digital analysis and simulation, allows product development teams to virtually create and analyze a mechanical product in its environment. Mechanical engineers must be equipped with these tools so that they can gain insight into key factors in quality and performance early in the product development phase.

CATIA Cast and Forged Part design

Cast, molded, and forged parts, as well as their associated tools, can be defined in record time with CATIA Cast and Forged Part design. Designers can concurrently create fully associative parting surfaces, die faces, cores, and cavities of even the most complex parts. Plus, the advanced, process-driven functionalities allow designers to define associative parting lines and surfaces.

This solution significantly reduces repetitive operations and makes it faster for users to learn. In addition, complex parts can be created faster than ever with productive tools such as Automatic Draft and Filleting.

Ensure design accuracy with respect to manufacturing requirements

Promote optimum productivity with automatic draft and filleting

Guarantee that the manufacturing part is consistent with design intent

Shorten the learning curve and reduce time spent on parting lines and surface definition

Avoid rework to obtain the right definition

Answer accurately and quickly to the request for quotation, and support decisions to design right the first time

Identify and define Slider Pulling Direction

Detail molding areas

Advanced technologies dedicated to casting and forging processes

Manufacturability is assisted by process-oriented tools like the 3D wall thickness analysis feature and quick draft analysis. This ensures that thickness tools meet the requirements of the casting and injection molding process in order to avoid potential manufacturing issues, so users design right the first time.

Cast and Forged Part Design brings unique, integrated Automatic Draft and Automatic Filleting breakthrough capabilities. Designers can automatically perform the drafting and filleting operations in a single step. It is possible to draft both sides fitted and keep edges in variable edge fillet, to contribute to the replacement of manual operations with automated ones, dramatically shortening the operation from hours to minutes.

The Core and Cavity Design workbench ensures that an accurate and associative core and cavity separation can be achieved. It builds robust parting lines and surfaces from the part skin in order to support last minute design changes and more design alternatives. The definition of complex shapes is flexible and allows easy and fast manufacturing dress-up of foreign geometry imported through neutral standards such as IGES and STEP.

3D wall thickness analysis

Fillet reduction process for stamping die face design

Main pulling direction definition, mold area management, and parting line extraction

This quick separation tool is provided to identify the Core and Cavity and undercuts from the main pulling direction. Once the right pulling direction has been easily defined with the compass, the Part is automatically divided in 3 sets. Thus, the Core and Cavity and undercuts areas are recomputed when the input of the main associative pulling direction is modified. The user can easily spot the divided parts due to the following color mapping: green faces can be unmolded, red faces can be unmolded in the opposite direction and blue faces need to be part of slider, loose core, or be split.

Exploded view of the different areas according to their pulling directions

Based on draft analysis criteria, this tool enables designers to identify slider surface from the previously identified undercuts area. The Compass is used to easily and interactively define the right slider direction. The Part is automatically divided in two sets. The green faces can be unmolded in the slider direction and blue ones need to be part of another slider, loose core or be split.

Slider pulling direction definition

Assisted extraction of the mold areas

This advanced tool helps users to perform several operations in one step. For instance, the Cut and Paste of faces from a molding area to another can be achieved in a single operation. The user can also split an area and distribute the result in the molding areas.